Giants Safety Xavier McKinney: Born to Be a Leader

New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney is looking to bring his brand of leadership to the team's locker room.

New York Giants safety Xavier McKinney should be a shining example to young defensive backs of how hard work, resilience, and dedication can work marvels in elevating their NFL careers.

Just two years prior, the Giants’ 2020 second-round pick out of Alabama joined the organization as a physically versatile player with a bunch of expectations. After an impressive collegiate career in Tuscaloosa that featured a First-Team All-SEC nod and national championship, a fractured foot quickly marred the rookie’s inaugural season and put those expectations on hold.

In 2021, the Roswell, Georgia native worked his way back from the lingering injury to put on one of the more impressive individual defensive performances of the Giants season. Playing in all 17 games, McKinney notched 93 tackles (third-best on the team) while more than tripling his interception count (5 total), adding on a touchdown and earning an NFC Defensive Player of the Week acknowledgment.

Now, as he prepares to enter his third professional season with New York, the 23-year-old’s effort hasn’t gone unnoticed, and he is about to assume a well-deserved responsibility handed down to him by his teammates–serving as a team captain.

On Tuesday, McKinney was one of ten Giants players, including four defensive stalwarts, to be named a captain for the upcoming 2022 season. Joining defensive linemen Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence II, and fellow safety Julian Love, McKinney will be one of the several first-time captains to lead the team in its first season under head coach Brian Daboll.

“It means a lot. It’s obviously an honor to be voted by my teammates, the guys that I go to work for every day, the guys that I grind with every day,” McKinney said. “It says a lot about what my teammates think about me as a person and as a player.”

The personal side of that equation has always shown forth in McKinney’s mellow, jovial, yet extremely focused personality. On the other hand, it took the player element some time before McKinney became viewed as an up-and-coming star in the Giants defensive secondary.

Following his limited rookie campaign, the safety’s bounce-back second year seemed to hit its peak in a Week 9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, where McKinney tallied seven tackles and snatched two interceptions, returning one for a pick-six.

From there, McKinney’s name was on the map, and he was destined for a future leadership within the Giants organization. With the safety’s new success story comes the difficult reminder that not every player on the roster ends up as lucky.

In the prelude to Tuesday’s practice, the league also marked one of the hardest days in the calendar in what’s popularly known as “cut day.” As such, the Giants made a slew of roster moves to trim their training camp roster from 80-53, including a couple that sent members of the safeties room packing for the waiver wire.

Being one of the players that earned a spot on the roster for 2022, McKinney wasted no time acknowledging the “toughness” of the day, but he stressed the importance of it not holding the team back in its preparations for the regular season.

“To have this day, it’s rough on the players; it’s rough on the coaches because you build those relationships with people, you build those connections with guys. You’ve got to keep going, keep pushing forward.”

Along with McKinney, Julian Love, the tenth player named a captain this year, and rookie Dane Belton were the other two safeties that made the roster. Defensive backs Nate Meadows and Trenton Thompson were both released by the Giants, cutting down a safeties room that was already small after veterans Jabrill Peppers and Logan Ryan departed in free agency.

Surviving his fair share of these fateful days, McKinney understood how the cuts might affect his tight-knit position group. However, the same message of progress and preparation prevailed, and McKinney knows that starts with the captain himself.

“To me, my role as a captain – it doesn’t matter who is in the building and who is not, you’ve got to lead either way,” he said. “You’ve always got to set the example; you’ve got to be able to keep pushing forward.

“You’ve got to be able to bring along the ones that maybe weren’t here the whole time, but when they come in, you’ve got to be able to catch them up to speed and make sure they’re on track for what we are trying to do.”

That’s exactly what McKinney has committed to this summer with the rookie Belton. Like McKinney did as a rookie, the Giants 2022 fourth-round pick suffered an injury early in training camp, breaking his collarbone and spending the entirety of August on the sidelines.

Despite being unable to participate in the team’s practices, Belton has still sought the support and experience of his teammates to develop his football knowledge and keep him ready when the time comes to return. That’s where McKinney came in, who said that his connection with Belton started way before the pads went on.

“I put him under my wing. I treated him like a little brother when he came in, just making sure that he was getting ahead of the game before we even started everything,” said McKinney of his bond with the No. 114 pick.

“We trained in Tampa, me, him and (cornerback Aaron Robinson) A-Rob. We trained, and we watched film together. He’s done a great job of just coming in and preparing, asking questions.”

Belton comes to the Giants after spending three collegiate seasons with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, where he rose to prominence by the end of his sophomore season. At the end of his junior year, Belton recorded 46 tackles and five interceptions (led the nation) to earn himself First-Team All-Big Ten recognition.

Original estimates had Belton out 6-8 weeks with the collarbone injury, but on Tuesday, the rookie was seen participating in individual non-contact drills for the first time. That, partnered with his work behind the scenes, seemed to offer enough optimism for an early return and for the Giants to select Belton for the third and final safety spot.

Whenever Belton does return, his veteran teammate is stoked to have his presence back on the field.

“He helps us tremendously, just adding into that versatility that we have as a safety group. He fits right into that. He fits well into that. I think he’s a very smart player, a good person, and he’s just continuing to improve and help us out in the DB room.”

After three seasons of personal growth despite all the changes surrounding him, the Giants’ locker room has found one of its best defensive leaders in Xavier McKinney. More than ready to take charge of his new position, the safety knows the challenges ahead as the team works toward winning football in 2022.

To him, as he stated with his colleagues in the deep secondary, it all starts with pushing forward, improving together, and ensuring everyone stays on track.

“I think that’s what we have done, and I think that’s what we did today because we’ve still got to go out there and practice. We’ve still got to go out there and make sure we go through all our corrections. We’ve got to make sure we go out there and execute.”

“I think this is going to be a really special group."

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